A novel by Charles Dickens, originally published as a serial in Bentley's Miscellany between 1837 and 1839. Oliver Twist is born an orphan and raised to a young age in a cruel workhouse that exploits the poor. Eventually he escapes the workhouse, only to run afoul of the London underworld. He's recruited into a pickpocket gang, but rescued by a kindly gentlemen who discovers Oliver's real identity and finally finds him a happy home.

The story is one of Dickens' most famous tales and includes some of his most enduring characters, including the crooked Jewish ringleader Fagin and the sly Artful Dodger. Like many of Dickens' works, the novel contains a great deal of social commentary on the way British society at the time treated its poor. Of particular note is the famous scene in which the starving Oliver begs for more gruel from the workhouse cook and is harshly punished.

The story has been adapted many times throughout the years, including:

This book contains examples of:

Adults Are Useless: Played straight then later subverted. This includes the magistrate who refuses to give Oliver over to a chimney sweeper (who is obviously going to use him to clean chimneys until he gets stuck in one and can't get out just like every other boy he's adopted) when he sees Oliver is obviously terrified by the man. This is the first time an adult actually shows genuine kindness and concern for Oliver, a poor, sweet little orphan boy. Then there was Mr. Brownlow, who pretty much offers to adopt the young boy, his lovely housekeeper, his grumpy friend Mr. Grimwig, and then of course the Maylie family.

Badass Longcoat: The Artful Dodger has one. To make it more badass, the reason it's so long is that he stole it from someone twice his size.

Bad-Guy Bar: The Three Cripples, an inn where Fagin and his various criminal associates hang out.

Beauty Equals Goodness: Dickens is quite bad for this. All of the adult male criminals are explicitly described as being ugly or disfigured save for "Flash" Toby Crackit. Rose the Purity Sue is beautiful, and Agnes, Oliver's sympathetic mother, was apparently attractive in her youth.

Bittersweet Ending: Oliver is happy and living with his wealthy family, Dodger is caught and deported to Australia, Fagin is caught and executed, and both Sikes and Nancy are dead. Make of that what you will.

Children Are Innocent: Played with. The pickpockets are streetwise crooks, but they're desperate for survival and guided by malicious adults who exploit them.

Cliffhanger: Since the novel was published as a serial, Dickens was naturally fond of this - how else are you going to make sure the readers buy the next issue?

Consummate Liar: Nancy is perfectly capable of fooling police officers, her lover Bill, and even Fagin.

Contrived Coincidence: By an amazing stroke of luck, Sikes and Oliver set out to rob the home of Oliver's aunt Rose. Having previously attempted to pick the pocket of Oliver's dad's best friend, Brownlow.

Corrupt the Cutie: It turns out that most of the business with Fagin and Oliver was part of Monks's plan to make the kid a criminal thus robbing him of his inheritance.

Crapsack World: Played straight, with London and the Workhouse, but subverted when Oliver lives in the country with the Maylies.

Cursed with Awesome: Right away the narrator makes it clear that being born in a workhouse was the best thing for Oliver, and that had he been surrounded by loving family members and skilled doctors his breathing problems would have killed him.

Monks prefers to get others to do his dirty work for him, and he's shown to be easily intimidated when Mr Brownlow questions him.

Noah Claypole is even worse. Fagin and Sikes may be criminals, but at least they're willing to be bold about it. Noah considers stealing the bags from old ladies too dangerous for him, despite acting The Bully whenever he's alone with someone younger and weaker than him. When he's captured, he immediately sells out Fagin to escape prison.

To modern eyes, having a kid deported because you found a stolen snuffbox on him seems a tad harsh.

Domestic Abuser: Bill Sikes, to Nancy; Noah Claypole, to Charlotte (to a certain extent, anyway; it's verbal, not physical); Widow Corney, to Mr Bumble; and Mrs Sowerberry, to Mr Sowerberry. The last two probably qualify more as Henpecked Husband, but it's still portrayed as somewhat abusive.

Even Evil Has Standards: Charley may be a pickpocket and street urchin, but he's VERY upset when Sikes kills Nancy.

Most of the women are wholesome, decent people (special mention goes to The Ingenue Rose), save for Nancy, who is a Love Martyr for Bill Sikes, someone who is less than pleasant. But Nancy, compared with the other members of Fagin's gang, is still the most moral of them.

To be fair with the use of this assumption, male members of Fagin's gang get to live Tom Sawyer's dream, and the females get to be sluts in the eyes of the public.

Oliver's father stipulates in his will that Agnes' child, should it be a girl, will get an inheritance unconditionally. If the child was born a boy, he could only claim his inheritance provided that he should not have done anything to publicly dishonor his name during his minority. Which is why Edwin's first son Edward/Monks wants to completely discredit his half-brother Oliver, who is said child.

Subverted, somewhat humorously, with the Bumbles. While Mr Bumble is by no means innocent, the fact that his wife would be seen by law as 'acting under his influence', thus less guilty, is shown to be absurd since he's a Henpecked Husband subjected to Domestic Abuse from her. Bumble even lampshades it, stating that the law must be a bachelor and an idiot.

Subverted with Mrs Mann, the baby farm keeper. While the farm gets enough money to feed them, she keeps most of it to herself while underfeeding the children to the edge of starvation. Mortality rate due to neglect and starvation is a staggering 85 percent. Even the otherwise neglectful parish is disturbed by the rumors, but nothing is ever proven.

Charley Bates, who is always going around with his hands and is prone to fits of laughter, is frequently referred to as "Master Bates." This might be interpreted as simply an instance of Have a Gay Old Time, but as the term "masturbate" was already in use when Dickens wrote Oliver Twist, and had the same meaning then as it does today, it seems more likely it was completely intentional.

In one scene, Nancy rages at Fagin for corrupting her when she was a child. While Fagin explicitly employs several individuals in different illegal activities (pickpockets, housebreakers, spies), Dickens has separately confirmed that, yes, he's also a pimp, and Nancy (and probably Bet) are prostitutes.

Dickens indulges in this trope to the hilt with Fagin, however it does not appear that Dickens himself held any grudge against Jews. Creating exaggerated characters out of all walks of life was simply his stock in trade. He also claimed that he only made Fagin Jewish because he legitimately believed that most London "kidsmen" were Jewish. Later in life, Dickens befriended some Jewish people and discovered that they were, rather understandably, offended by the character; by way of apology, he went back and excised many references to Fagin's faith.

Perhaps even more offensive than Fagin is Barney, the barman at The Three Cripples, who gets no characterisation beyond that he's Jewish, greedy, ugly, evil, and has a speech impediment.

Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Nancy, though she also shows shades of The Alcoholic. Fagin gets all his female wards addicted to alcohol. Though the reason is never given, it's most likely so that they'll be more dependent and/or more pleasant company.

Have a Gay Old Time: Charley Bates is frequently called "Master Bates." Unless you view that as a deliberate attempt at Getting Crap Past the Radar, it might be an instance of this trope. The intended humor then lies in the fact that Charley is a street urchin unlikely to deserve such an honorific.

Meaningful Name: Many, as Dickens is known for this. The most obvious include Bumble, Crackit, Grimwig and Fang.

Missing Mom: Oliver's mother Agnes dies at the beginning of the novel.

Nice Hat: The Artful Dodger is mentioned to wear a hat which (like the rest of his attire) doesn't quite fit, but which stays on his head at all times because he's developed the habit of jerking his head just right to keep it on. One early illustrator decided that the hat should be a slightly-battered top hat, which has since become a beloved icon of the character.

Red Right Hand: Monks has a red mark on his face. He also suffers from fits which occasionally discolour his face further. Some of the other criminals are mentioned to have scars and the like.

Revealing Cover Up: If Sikes et al hadn't been so concerned about getting Oliver back so he couldn't implicate them, then they probably would have continued unnoticed and lived. Of course as soon as they kidnap him the whole house of cards starts to collapse.

Right-Hand Attack Dog: Bill Sikes' dog Bull's Eye who is as vicious as his owner, probably because Sikes abuses him. Bull's Eye is pathetically loyal to Sikes though, and jumps to his death after Sikes hangs himself.

Right on the Tick: Used in a bit of foreshadowing when Nancy pays attention to clock striking eight p.m. Eight a.m. was when friends/colleagues of hers were to be executed the next day.

Sentenced to Down Under: The Artful Dodger's final fate. Probably. The book doesn't explicitly state it beyond some vague references to him being "sent away" or similar.

Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism: The book was famously quite cynical and critical about the plight of the poor in England at the time, yet is also typically idealistic in its regard for incorruptible youth.

Slut-Shaming: Poor Nancy is trying to help the Maylies with information on Monks, but almost every time, someone of higher status than herself shames her for being a prostitute.

Star-Crossed Lovers: Agnes and Edwin, who don't get better. Later Rose and Harry Maylie — who do.

Trailers Always Spoil: When the completed novel was reprinted in parts, the very first cover gave away Fagin's imprisonment and Bill Sikes' death.

Trap Door: Monks meets Mr and Mrs Bumble in his derelict warehouse hideout, and after their conversation reveals that they had been sitting on a trapdoor that he could have used to drop them in the river had he wished.

Truth in Television: Charles Dickens wrote the book based on many problems that were prevalent in English society at the time. Fagin was a representative of a type of criminal found in the slums of that day, called a "kidsman." They would train young runaways and "throwaway" children to pick pockets, and pay them for the proceeds, as well as providing a place to sleep. Oliver Twist himself gets used as what was called a "snakesman"—-a young child or very small adult who could insinuate himself into places where an adult could not pass, to open doors and allow older, larger confederates to enter.

Tropes unique to the 1922 film:

All Part of the Show: Oliver dives under a puppet show booth, only to be immediately caught by the man pursuing him. The audience briefly thinks it's part of the show before the rest of the crowd chasing Oliver shows up.

Coordinated Clothes: During his brief time as apprentice to Mr. Sowerberry, Oliver wears a suit that matches Sowerberry's, including a top hat with a long tail.

Dream Sequence: Oliver, after going to bed hungry in the workhouse, dreams of a spoon and a plate dancing.

Pragmatic Adaptation: Besides dropping a lot of plot points in order to squeeze the story into a 74-minute movie, the film fixes the egregious Contrived Coincidences from the novel. The film omits the bits about Rose being Oliver's aunt and Mr. Browlow being Oliver's father's friend; they are simply nice people who wind up taking an interest in Oliver.

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